Page 40 of Marcel

“Wow!” Hewhistled. “You look like you just stepped from the pages of amagazine. Is this for me or the new client?”

“The newclient, naturally.” She gave him a warm hug and a smile.“Thanks for the compliment.” Moving out of his arms, shegave Marcel a chilled look. She was about to take her seat when sheheard her name.

“NikkiJohnston?”

Turning towards thedoorway, she stared at the familiar face in surprise.

“JonathonGraves?”

“The same.“They both moved simultaneously and Marcel, who had risen tohis feet when the man came in, went rigid with displeasure as hiswife entered the other man’s arms.

“My God! Lookat you!” Ignoring the two men in the room, Jonathan held her atarms’ length, a shocked and bemused look on his handsome face,dark brown eyes filled with admiration. “You were a beauty whenyou were a girl, but as a woman, you are stunning.”

“Thank you.”Nikki grinned at him, and as if remembering the others in the room,she turned towards them. “Johnathon is a childhood friend ofmine. We went to high school together. And it’s Nikki Hadleynow. Marcel is my husband-” She gestured to him and then to herbrother-in-law. “And this is Matthew, his brother.”

“You aremarried.” Jonathan shook his head in sorrow. “Of courseyou are.” Letting go of her arm, he greeted the two menformally before taking his seat.

“I had no ideayou owned the company and were interested in taking over the PlazaHotel,” Nikki murmured as soon as they were all seated.

“It’s asubsidiary company.” Jonathan included the others in thediscussion. “I was recommended to the firm by an associate ofmine.” he turned to direct a look between the two men. “Ihave lived in London for the past fifteen years, and my parentcompany is based there.

We are acquiringproperties in the US, and I have decided to come and see to itmyself.” Turning back to Nikki, he took her hand in his. “Ihad no idea you were here. We lost touch when I left, and I shouldhave contacted you.”

“Youare here now.” She glanced over to see her husband watching herwith a frown. “And we should get down to business.”

*****

“He seemssmitten.” Moving over to the sideboard in the conference room,Matthew poured a glass of orange juice before turning to look at hisbrother.

Marcel had beenmostly silent during the consult, just shooting a few relevantquestions to their newest client, his tone formal and bordering onunfriendly. “And I feel that his considerable holdings will nowbe handled by us, due mostly to your wife.”

“I don’twant to talk about it,” Marcel warned him. The urge to plow hisfist into the man’s face had been so strong that he had torestrain the impulse physically. He had experienced a severe punch tohis stomach when she walked into the conference room.

He had spent amiserable night last night aching to be with her and had stood at theside of the bed staring at her. She had managed to remove the sheetsoff her altogether, and he had the agonizing few minutes of staringat her bare flesh until he had to force himself to leave.

And yes, he had seenthe way the son of a bitch looked at her. He had also seen the way hetouched her as they made their way out. She had been laughing atsomething he said, sharing memories of their youths. Had he been herfirst? The thought twisted his guts into knots and made it difficultfor him to breathe.

“You barelyspoke two words to her since she came in, and every suggestion sheputs across, you shot them down.” Matthew persisted, staring athis brother’s glowering expression. “You also looked asif you wanted to do bodily harm to the guy. The tension inside theroom was so thick, it could be cut with a knife.”

Matthew took a sip ofhis juice as he eyed his brother. “I don’t understand whyyou are ignoring her and don’t expect another man to notice howbeautiful she is. What the hell is your problem?”

“My marriagehas nothing to do with you.”

“Yourpigheadedness is going to be the death of you.” His brothertold him with a sigh. “I have another meeting.”

Marcel watched himleave and sat there glowering at the documents on the table in frontof him. Was she wishing she had known about this guy before marryinghim? The guy was wealthy enough to have gotten her out of herpredicament, and he was obviously ‘smitten,’ as Matthewhad put it.

He had left her alonein their bed last night. Was she going to start thinking that thisguy was far less trouble? And why the hell did he care? But he did -God helped him, and he could feel the jealousy twisting his insideslike vicious blades. Shoving to his feet, he stalked out of the roomand headed to his office.

*****

“I am sorryabout your mother,” Jonathan said quietly. He had insisted onbuying her breakfast, and she had accepted. She had no otherappointments for the rest of the morning, but she needed to reviewthe contract they had just signed and ensure everything was in goodstanding.

“I should havekept in touch-”

She shook her head asshe reached for her coffee. “You had your life to live, and Iknew your parents were planning on migrating to the UK.”

“You shouldhave come with me.” He half-teased.

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